Lucy Letby update as hospital worker arrested after police conduct search warrant

A senior hospital worker has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice in connection with the investigation into killer nurse Lucy Letby, with a search warrant executed at a property on Wednesday

Abigail Hunt Content Editor

13:24, 23 Apr 2026Updated 13:46, 23 Apr 2026

[Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders]

Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders(Image: Facebook)

Police have detained a senior hospital worker on suspicion of perverting the course of justice as part of the ongoing investigation into killer nurse Lucy Letby.

Cheshire Constabulary confirmed a search warrant was executed at a property on Wednesday, with the individual arrested and subsequently released on bail while enquiries continue.

Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders following her conviction at Manchester Crown Court for murdering seven babies and attempting to murder seven others between June 2015 and June 2016. The infants were attacked through various methods while Letby was employed as a nurse on the neonatal ward at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

[Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders]

A senior hospital worker has been arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice(Image: Chester Standard / SWNS)

In a statement released on Thursday, police said: "On Wednesday April 22, officers from Cheshire Constabulary executed a search warrant at a property in connection with Operation Duet.

"Operation Duet is the ongoing investigation into corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter at the Countess of Chester Hospital.

"An individual was arrested on suspicion of perverting the course of justice. They have subsequently been bailed pending further inquiries.

"The searches at the property have now concluded.

[Letby, 35, from Hereford, is serving 15 whole-life orders]

Lucy Letby pictured at the Countess of Chester Hospital in 2012(Image: MEN MEDIA)

"Both the corporate manslaughter and gross negligence manslaughter elements of the investigation are continuing and there are no set timescales for these."

Meanwhile, baby serial killer Lucy Letby is constantly guarded by prison officers whenever she leaves her cell amid fears she will be attacked by fellow inmates. Prison chiefs at the top security HMP Bronzefield jail in Surrey fear that Letby could be killed or seriously injured if she was allowed to freely mix with other cons.

Letby is serving multiple whole-life sentences for the murder of seven babies and the attempted murder of six others. She is currently being held in the prison's high security Unit 4 because of the nature of her crimes.

The unit is home to all child killers and those women convicted of abusing women. Prison officers conduct a risk assessment on Letby every day based on intelligence gathered from other cons, according to prison sources.

[Lucy Letby]

Searches at the property have now concluded(Image: Cheshire Police)

One ex-female prisoner who recently finished her sentence at Bronzefield told the Daily Star Sunday: Support might be growing for Letby outside of prison and even some cons think she is innocent but she is still on the nonce wing and probably will be forever.

Any time she leaves the wing she has to be escorted by prison officers or she would be attacked or at the very least abused.

"There are a lot of very dangerous women in that jail and some of them are on her wing. Another source added: Letby has an ensuite single cell and she spends a great deal of time on her own.

[Letby fears she'll be attacked in prison]

Letby fears she'll be attacked in prison(Image: PA)

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Fellow inmates at Bronzefield include Constance Martens who was convicted of causing the death of her baby through gross negligence. Beinash Batool, who murdered her 10-year-old step daughter Sara Sharif, is also believed to be held on the same wing as Letby.

Although Letby is surrounded by child killers and abusers, she is still regarded as a high risk inmate and the last thing the prison wants is for her to be killed or wounded because it would be a major security failure. Some prisoners are said to sympathise with her insistence that she has been wrongly convicted, while others reportedly view her as quiet, polite and withdrawn in custody.

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